Strong evidence exists that artificial nutrition does not prolong life or improve quality of life in patients with advanced dementia. Substantial functional decline and recurrent or progressive medical illnesses may indicate that a patient who is not eating is unlikely to obtain any significant or long-term benefit from artificial nutrition. Feeding tubes are often placed after hospitalization, frequently with concerns for aspirations, and for those who are not eating. Contrary to what many people think, tube feeding does not ensure the patient’s comfort or reduce suffering; it may cause fluid overload, diarrhea, abdominal pain, local complications, less human interaction and may increase the risk of aspiration. Assistance with oral feeding is an evidence-based approach to provide nutrition for patients with advanced dementia and feeding problems.

SSI is a reactive way of treating hyperglycemia after it has occurred rather than preventing it. Good evidence exists that SSI is neither effective in meeting the body’s physiologic insulin needs nor is it efficient in the long-term care (LTC) setting in medically stable individuals. Use of SSI is associated with more frequent glucose checks and insulin injections, leads to greater patient discomfort and increased nursing time and resources. With SSI regiments, patients may be at risk from wide glucose fluctuations or hypoglycemia when insulin is given when food intake is erratic.

Chronic asymptomatic bacteriuria is frequent in the LTC setting, with prevalence as high as 50%. A positive urine culture in the absence of localized urinary tract infection (UTI) symptoms (i.e., dysuria, frequency, urgency) is of limited value in identifying whether a patient’s symptoms are caused by a UTI. Colonization (a positive bacterial culture without signs or symptoms of a localized UTI) is a common problem in LTC facilities that contributes to the over-use of antibiotic therapy in this setting, leading to an increased risk of diarrhea or other adverse drug events, resistant organisms and infection due to Clostridium difficile. An additional concern is that the finding of asymptomatic bacteriuria may lead to an erroneous assumption that a UTI is the cause of an acute change of status, hence failing to detect or delaying the more timely detection of the patient’s more serious underlying problem. A patient with advanced dementia may be unable to report urinary symptoms. In this situation, it is reasonable to obtain a urine culture if there are objective signs of systemic infection such as fever (increase in temperature of equal to or greater than 2°F [1.1°C] from baseline) leukocytosis, or a left shift or chills in the absence of additional symptoms (e.g., new cough) to suggest an alternative source of infection.

Careful differentiation of cause of the symptoms (physical or neurological versus psychiatric, psychological) may help better define appropriate treatment options. The therapeutic goal of the use of antipsychotic medications is to treat patients who present an imminent threat of harm to self or others, or are in extreme distress–not to treat nonspecific agitation or other forms of lesser distress. Treatment of BPSD in association with the likelihood of imminent harm to self or others includes assessing for and identifying and treating underlying causes (including pain; constipation; and environmental factors such as noise, being too cold or warm, etc.), ensuring safety, reducing distress and supporting the patient’s functioning. If treatment of other potential causes of the BPSD is unsuccessful, antipsychotic medications can be considered, taking into account their significant risks compared to potential benefits. When an antipsychotic is used for BPSD, it is advisable to obtain informed consent.

There is no evidence that hypercholesterolemia, or low HDL-C is an important risk factor for all-cause mortality, coronary heart disease mortality, or hospitalization for myocardial infarction or unstable angina in persons older than 70 years. In fact, studies show that elderly patients with the lowest cholesterol have the highest mortality after adjusting other risk factors. In addition, a less favorable risk-benefit ratio may be seen for patients older than 85, where benefits may be more diminished and risks from statin drugs more increased (cognitive impairment, falls, neuropathy and muscle damage).

The most common source of bacteremia in the post-acute and long-term care (PA/LTC) setting is the bladder when an indwelling urinary catheter is in use. The federal Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) recommends minimizing urinary catheter use and duration of use in all patients. Specifically, HICPAC recommends not using a catheter to manage urinary incontinence in the PA/LTC setting. Appropriate indications for indwelling urinary catheter placement include acute retention or outlet obstruction, to assist in healing of deep sacral or perineal wounds in patients with urinary incontinence, and to provide comfort at the end of life if needed.

Many patients residing in the LTC setting are elderly and frail, with multimorbidity and limited life expectancy. Although research evaluating the impact of screening for breast, colorectal and prostate cancer in older adults in general and LTC residents in particular is scant, available studies suggest that multimorbidity and advancing age significantly alter the risk-benefit ratio. Preventive cancer screenings have both immediate and longer term risks (e.g., procedural and psychological risks, false positives, identification of cancer that may be clinically insignificant, treatment-related morbidity and mortality). Benefits of cancer screening occur only after a lag time of 10 years (colorectal or breast cancer) or more (prostate cancer). Patients with a life expectancy shorter than this lag time are less likely to benefit from screening. Discussing the lag time (“When will it help?”) with patients is at least as important as discussing the magnitude of any benefit (“How much will it help?”). Prostate cancer screening by prostate-specific antigen testing is not recommended for asymptomatic patients because of a lack of life-expectancy benefit. One-time screening for colorectal cancer in older adults who have never been screened may be cost-effective; however, it should not be considered after age 85 and for most LTC patients older than 75 the burdens of screening likely outweigh any benefits.

Rates of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) have been increasing, especially among older adults who have recently been hospitalized or who reside in the PA/LTC setting. Patients residing in PA/LTC facilities are particularly at risk for CDI because of advanced age, frequent hospitalizations and frequent antibiotic exposure. However, only symptomatic patients should be tested. Furthermore, studies have shown that C. difficile tests may remain positive for as long as 30 days after symptoms have resolved. False positive “test-of-cure” specimens may complicate clinical care and result in additional courses of inappropriate anti-C. difficile therapy. To limit the spread of C. difficile, care providers in the PA/LTC setting should concentrate on early detection of symptomatic patients and the consistent use of proper infection control practices, including hand washing with soap and water, contact precautions, and environmental cleaning with 1:10 dilution of sodium hypochlorite (bleach) prepared fresh daily.

Hospital-level care has known risks, including delirium, infections, side effects of medications and treatments, disturbance of sleep, and loss of mobility and function. These risks are often more significant for patients in the PA/LTC setting, who are more likely to be frail and to have multimorbidity, functional limitations and dementia. Therefore, for some frail elders, the balance of benefits and harms of hospital-level care may be unfavorable. To avoid unnecessary hospitalizations, care providers should engage in advance care planning by defining goals of care for the patient and discussing the risks and benefits of various interventions, including hospitalization, in the context of prognosis, preferences, indications, and the balance of risks and benefits. Advance directives such as the Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) paradigm form and Do Not Hospitalize (DNH) orders communicate a patient’s preferences about end-of-life care. Patients with DNH orders are less likely to be hospitalized than those who do not have these directives. Patients who opt for less-aggressive treatment options are less likely to be subjected to unnecessary, unpleasant and invasive interventions and the risks of hospitalization.

There is strong evidence for the treatment of hypertension in older adults. Achieving a goal SBP of 150mm Hg reduces stroke incidence, all-cause mortality and heart failure. There is less consistent evidence that lower BP targets are beneficial for high-risk patients, especially frail patients in the post-acute and long-term care setting. Target SBP and DBP levels should be based on shared decision-making with the patient as there is data supporting benefit in treating more aggressively to a goal SBP of <140mm Hg in community-dwelling individuals ≥75 years of age with elevated cardiovascular risk. Using a reliable, representative method of taking blood pressures with special attention to orthostatic hypotension is important, as orthostatic hypotension has been associated with increased mortality and cardiovascular events. In addition, moderate or high-intensity treatment of hypertension has been associated with an increased risk of serious falls and injury in frail older adults.

These items are provided solely for informational purposes and are not intended as a substitute for consultation with a medical professional. Patients with any specific questions about the items on this list or their individual situation should consult their physician.

AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine is the only professional association representing medical directors, attending physicians and others practicing in the long term care continuum. AMDA is dedicated to excellence in patient care and provides education, advocacy, information and professional development to promote the delivery of quality long term care medicine. AMDA strives to provide cutting edge education, information and tools on clinical, management and technology topics that are specific to the evolving long term care setting. AMDA offers opportunities to learn about best practices and activities that can maximize the quality of care and quality of life for patients.

1–5: AMDA – The Society for Post -Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine convened a work group made up of members from the Clinical Practice Steering Committee (CPSC). Members of the CPSC include board certified geriatricians, certified medical directors, multi-facility medical directors, attending practitioners, physicians practicing in both office-based and nursing facility practice, physicians in rural, suburban and academic settings, those with university appointments, and more. It was important to AMDA that the workgroup chosen represent the core base of the AMDA membership. Ideas for the “five things” were solicited from the workgroup. Suggested elements were considered for appropriateness, relevance to the core of the specialty and opportunities to improve patient care. They were further refined to maximize impact and eliminate overlap, and then ranked in order of potential importance both for the specialty and for the public. A literature search was conducted to provide supporting evidence or refute the activities. The list was modified and a second round of selection of the refined list was sent to the workgroup for paring down to the final “top five” list. Finally, the work group chose its top five recommendations before submitting a final draft to the AMDA Executive Committee, which were then approved.

6–10: The AMDA Choosing Wisely® endeavor utilized a similar procedure as published in JAMA Intern Med. 2014;174(4):509-515 – A Top 5 List for Emergency Medicine for our five items.

Phase 1 – The Clinical Practice Steering Committee (CPSC) along with the Infection Advisory Committee clinicians brainstormed an initial list of low-value clinical decisions that are under control of PA/LTC physicians that were thought to have a potential for cost savings.

Phase 2 – Each member of the CPSC selected five low-value tests considering the perceived contribution to cost (how commonly the item is ordered and the individual expense of the test/treatment/action), benefit of the item (scientific evidence to support use of the item in the literature or in guidelines); and highly actionable (use decided by PA/LTC clinicians only).

Phase 3 – A survey was sent to all AMDA members. Statements were phrased as specific overuse statements by using the word “don’t,” thereby reflecting the action necessary to improve the value of care.

Phase 4 – CPSC members reviewed survey results and chose the five items.